Marks and Spencer’s chairman Archie Norman: Plans to ease post-Brexit trade ‘overbearing and baffling’ January 26, 2023 Marks & Spencer’s chairman has become the latest business leader to criticise the Government’s economic policy, with Archie Norman calling plans to ease post-Brexit trade “overbearing” and “baffling”. Norman, who is also an ex-Conservative MP, has urged the Foreign Secretary during talks with the EU not to consider separate labelling for goods sold in Northern [...]
UK’s wealth gap: Cost of living crisis boosts income of richest Brits by £1k but leaves poorest £600 a year worse off January 25, 2023 The disparity between Britain’s richest and Britain’s poorest earners has grown as a result of the cost of living crisis and a freezing in the income tax threshold, figures have revealed. The richest Brits have managed to increase their household disposable income by just over £1,000 in the last year, while the poorest are on [...]
PMQs sketch: Nadhim Zahawi? Don’t know the guy January 25, 2023 Conservative party chairman Nadhim Zahawi is under investigation for failing to pay his taxes, a woman was murdered after an offender was mistakenly allowed to "walk free", and Rishi Sunak is still short (but only a bit shorter than Keir Starmer), Sascha O'Sullivan debriefs on Prime Minister's Questions.
London needs to learn from the Swiss if it’s to maintain its status as a global crypto hub January 25, 2023 London needs to learn from the Swiss if it’s to maintain its status as a global crypto hub, says SCRYPT's Norman Wooding.
PMQs: Sunak to come under fresh scrutiny today amid Zahawi tax row and calls to fire Tory chair January 25, 2023 Rishi Sunak will come under fresh pressure over Nadhim Zahawi as he resists firing the Tory party chairman despite him being under investigation over his tax affairs. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is likely to seize on the fallout from Mr Zahawi’s multi-million pound settlement at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. The Prime Minister ordered [...]
Rishi Sunak’s strategy of quiet governance won’t deliver an election victory January 25, 2023 To balance out Liz Truss' short-lived premiership, Rishi Sunak is trying to govern like a grown-up. But being this quiet won't win him the next election, writes Paul Ormerod
UK borrowing hits December record of £27.4bn piling pressure on Hunt ahead of March budget January 24, 2023 UK borrowing in December hit its highest total in 30 years driven upwards by the government’s debt interest bill soaring due to raging inflation, official figures out today show. The government took on £27.4bn of debt last month, the largest amount since records began in 1993, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The [...]
A Conservative manifesto, adjusted to UK inflation January 24, 2023 As prices keep going up, Elena Siniscalco looks at what happens to the Conservative manifesto pledges from 2019 when we adjust them in line with inflation Inflation is at 10.5 per cent in the UK. This isolated number can feel quite difficult to quantify, but we see it everywhere around us – in the price [...]
Why is the FTSE 100 nearing a record high with a recession looming? It ain’t the economy, stupid January 24, 2023 The FTSE 100 is becoming one massive hedge fund. That’s why it’s doing so well when all the doomsters have warned the UK is headed for a long, albeit shallow, recession over the next year. Of course, the stock market isn’t the economy. How many high street coffee shop owners do you know that worry [...]
Almost no one is happy with Brexit, but stronger EU ties will be in inches not miles January 24, 2023 A Swiss-style relationship with the EU post-Brexit is not on the table. The government must find a smart way forward focusing on the key areas where strong cooperation is most needed, writes Joel Reland